Rubber shoe sole and heel.



' 1' P TENIED PBB.13,190 6. F. 0. common.

RUBBER SHOE SOLE AND HEEL. APPLICATION FILED 8EPT.12, 1904;

INVENTOR Fifanifdolmaz I zMW' BY k m f ATTORNEYS FRANK C. CONNOR, OF VVACO, TEXAS.

RUBBER SHOE SOLE AND HEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 13, 1s06.

Application filed September 12. 1904. Serial No. 224,075.

To (I-l/ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, F RANK C. CONNOR, residing at aco, in the county of Mc-Lennan and State of Texas, have invented a new and Improved Rubber Shoe Sole and Heel, of which the following is a specification.

This invention seeks to provide a rubber sole and heel adapted to be readily attached to the ordinary welt of a hand-sewed or Goodyear rubber shoe, and it generically comprehends a solid-rubber sole-piece formed with a front or tread portion and heel-receiving end and an instep portion that joins the tread and heel ends and so designed whereby the said heel end is disposed in a plane sufficiently above the front or tread portion to provide tor integrally tormmg or otherwise fixedly connecting the elastic heel-piece with the sole member to bring the bottom or tread surface of the said heel in the roper horizontal alinement with the Near face of the said sole-piece and in which the said solepiece is provided with a flange extending entirely around it for connecting to the welt of an ordinary hand or machine sewed shoe.

In its more complete nature my present invention embodies a peculiarly-shaped solepiece of solid rubber, having a central or instep portion and an elevated end or heel-receiving portion provided with an annular flange for connecting with the welt "of an ordinary hand or machine sewed shoe and a rubber heel member that forms a part of the complete combined rubber sole and heel so secured to the sole portion whereby to give the upper part of the heel sufficient resiliency to provide, as it were, a cushion and in whic construction of heel-piece and the manner in which it is attached to the sole provides a substantiallv pneumatic heel and whereby a complete sole and heel member is provided capable of outlasting the ordinary leather sole and heel and by the use of which the wearer is insulated from wet or cold ground contact and the resiliency of the heel 1s of such nature as to greatly benefit the wearer byreason of taking up the jar and contact of the weight of the user on the ground while walking.

In its more generic features my invention consists in certain details of construction and combination of parts, all of which will be fully described, pointed out in the appended claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a view of a shoe provided with my improved rubber sole and heel. Fig. 2 is a ongitudinal section of the rubber sole and heel. Fig. 3 is a similar view of thesole and heel-piece, showing the upper part compressed to close off the pocket in the heel. Fig. 4 is an inverted perspective view of the sole-piece. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the heel-piece.

In the practical application of my present --invention I provide a sole-piece A, composed (of a high grade of rubber and whlch comprises a front or tread portion aof uniform thickness and which merges at the. inner end with a center or instep portion b, that gradually tapers down in thickness from the tread portion a to the point where it merges with the rear or heel end c of the pieceA which end is disposed in a plane parallel with that of the tread portion a, but is sufficiently above itto permit of attaching or otherwise joining the heel D to the said portion 0, so that the bottomor tread-face (I of the heel is in the same horizontal plane with the tread-surface of the sole portion (1-, as clearly shown in Fi 2.

S c far as described it will be readily apparent that by making the tread port-iona thicker than the heel portion 0 and gradually taperin off the thickness of the instep portion 1) a so 'd front or tread member is provided that will hold its shape under all ordinary conditions, and a resilient heel portion is provided which, by reason of the gradually-thickened instep portion, also maintains its normal shape and is not adapted to be quickly weakened at the instep portion by constant wear or use.

The sole-piece A has a laterally-projected flange 10, that extends entirely around the tread portion a and is of a Width to permit of attaching the said rubber sole-piece to the ordinarv welt'of a hand-sewed or Goodyear sewed shoe, and as the said flange at the tread port-ion is at the upper surface of the said portion and as the instep and heel portions of the sole-pieceA are in a planeabove the said tread portion a, of the sole-piece A it follows that the stitches that join the sole- .piece with the shoe-weltare protected from contact with the earth or pavements and will therefore not readily break or Wear out, and, furthermore, by reason of the reduced thickness of the instep and the heel portions of the sole, which, thickness is substantially that of the flange in the part A, the sole-piece A can be quickly sewed on the welt all around the center, while the longitudinal taper or concavity is continuous from the rear to the front end, whereby to provide a deep depression or opening at at the front face of the s heel, the reason for which will presently ap- The heel D is of a width slightly less pear. than that of the rear end of the heel portion c, whereby when the heel is attached an annular flange 10 is provided to receive the 1 stitches that connect with the shoe welt. The upper face of the heel D is also provided ency of the heel and the sole portions the wearer is greatly benefited, as the jar incident in the contact of the weight of the wearer with the ground when walking is minimized.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Pat ent, is

1. As a new article, a sole composed of rubber having a tread portion at the front end and a heel-receiving portion at the rear end, an elastic heel secured upon the rear end of the heel-receiving portion, said elastic heel having an internal cavity D having its upper face concaved transversely and longitudinally, the longitudinal cavity ext-ending from the internal cavity D to the front face of the heel to provide an open or valve space 00 between the heel and the heel-receiving portion of the sole-piece, said heel and sole being arranged that when the weight of the with a central depression D which forms an i air-receiving pocket and also serves to lighten 3 the weight of the heel.

nailsf, that'are bedded down into the rubber The heel is fastened onto the shoe over the sole and is secured by 1 I i l leave the lower portion of the heel resilient? and freed of that rigidity which would exist 1 if the nail-shanks extended down to the bottom or tread-face of the heel.

viding it with a central concavity in the man, ner stated the said heel acts as a cushion-heel on the order of a pneumatic tire, for thereason that in placing the heel on the ground the weight of the wearer compresses the upper face of the heel sufficiently to practically close the opening :20 (see Fig. 3) in the front face of the heel, thereby retaining the air within the cavity of the heel, which then acts as a cushioning means.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it is thought that the complete operation and advantages of my invention will be readily apparent. By reason of the peculiar formation of the sole-piece and the manner in which the heel is constructed and attached to said sole-piece the said sole and heel, I find in practice, lasts longer than the ordinary leather sole and heel, and, furthermore, the wearer when using my form of sole and heel is insulated from ground contact and electric currents, and, again, by reason of the resili- By concaving or dishing the upper face of the heel and prowearer rests upon the heel. the space as will close, and open again when the weight of the wearer is removed from the heel, substan tially as shown and described.

2. The hereinbefore-described improvement in rubber soles and heels comprising in combination with a rubber sole having a heel-receiving portion, a rubber heel including an internal cavity D and having its upper face concavcd transversely and longitudinally, the longitudinal cavity extending from the internal cavity D to the front face of the heel to provide an open space a: between the heel and the heel-receiving port-ion of the sole, the heel and sole being arranged that when the weight of the wearer rests upon the heel, the space a: will close, and will open again when the weight of the wearer is removed from the; heel, substantially as shown and for the purposes described.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a rubber heel having an internal cavity D and having its upper face concaved transversely and longitudinally, the longitudinal cavity F. c. cox'xon.

Witnesses:

E. W. KRAMER,

JAs. N. ABEEL. 

